1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a device for performing a complete or partial emptying/filling of a drying aggregate with upstanding expansion pelt boards, with or without tanned pelts, or tanned and dried pelts, to one or more suitable receiving places for further transport and/or processing.
2. Description of Related Art
A drying aggregate and an expandable and collapsible distension element/pelt board, in the following also referred to as expansion pelt boards, are disclosed in International Patent Application WO 2005/026394. The expansion board can be described as a distension element/pelt board which has a longitudinal axis, a first transverse axis (breadth axis) and a second transverse axis (height axis), a front end for engaging the nose end of a pelt, and a foot end which is preferably terminated at right-angles in relation to the longitudinal axis of the board, and where the distension element/the board has at least a first and a second convex surface with an open structure which defines a cavity, and where said surfaces of the board are configured in a substantially symmetrical manner around at least two of the defined axes, and where the board comprises at least one opening to the cavity in the foot end. The distension element/board typically consists in practice of two elongated half-shells with convex surfaces with open structure, which in combination with a displaceable locking and distension element in the board's longitudinal direction form a cavity from which the air under the open structure can be changed via an opening in the foot end during the drying process.
The convex configuration of the surface of the distension element in combination with its open structure has the result that the fastening of a pelt stretched on the distension element/pelt board of the type described here can be established by a holding bag or by wrapping, which after the pelt is stretched on the board is drawn over the fur side of the pelt and drawn towards the foot end of the board, so that at relevant areas of the pelt board the bag applies pressure which presses the leather side of the pelt against the convex open structures, whereby sufficient friction is created to enable the pelt to be fastened in the stretched position during the whole of the subsequent drying procedure. The use of staples and other pelt-damaging holding means is hereby rendered superfluous, which means that the price for pelts dried on the newly-developed pelt boards is higher, with subsequent economic benefits for the seller.
The displaceable locking and distension element is displaceable between a forward position, where the distension element has its greatest circumference, and is the position in which the locking and distension element are in during the tanning and drying of pelts, and a drawn-back position where the expansion pelt board is “collapsed”, so that the facing edges of the expansion board are in contact with each other. This results in a reduction of the expansion board's circumference, which is a very great advantage when the pelt shall subsequently be removed from the board, in that the work of pulling the pelt free from the surfaces of the board is considerably reduced, whereby the dried pelt is easy to remove.
In the removal of the pelt from the board, there is thus effected a displacement of the locking and distension element to the drawn-back position, whereby the expansion pelt board “collapses” with a subsequent smaller reduction in the circumference of the board, whereby the work of pulling the dried pelt from the collapsed expansion board is eased to a significant degree, as compared with the pulling-free of a dried pelt from a conventional pelt board.
The expansion board's locking and distension element also comprises a blunt part extending from the foot end of the distension element/pelt board, and which herewith provides an engagement area for holding means and the like which are used in connection with the fastening and handling of the expansion board in a drying aggregate arranged for this purpose (more about this in the following), and in connection with the displacement of the locking and distension element between the drawn-back position and the forward position and vice versa.
With the object of being able to remove possible fat on the leather side of the pelt during the drying process, a layer of fat-absorbing material can in certain cases be placed between the convex open-structured surface of the board, which material is placed on the board before the drawing-over of the pelt. This material can typically be a bag made of fat-absorbing material, chiefly fat-absorbing paper with perforations, for example, in the form of a so-called pelt board inner bag, which will thus be lying between the surface of the board and the leather side of the pelt.
The subsequent drying of the pelt takes place in a drying aggregate comprising a carriage, the bed of which is built up as an air induction channel with a blower, where the upwardly-facing side surface comprises openings for accommodation of the blunt extending part on the locking and distension element, which is extending from the foot end of the expansion board with the tanned pelt, which is inserted into the drying unit for drying. The drying then takes place by placing the drying unit in a room with conditioned air, where the blower is activated, whereby a continuous exchanging of the air in the expansion board's cavity is effected via the air induction openings in the immediate vicinity of the openings for receiving the blunt extending parts on the locking and distension elements. The expansion pelt boards are placed and fastened in the drying unit in the upright position.
In addition to the advantages already mentioned, the expansion boards have the advantage that the handling of the pelt boards after the drying of the pelts is relatively limited, in that after the pelts have been mounted on the expansion pelt boards, these are transferred directly to the drying unit, after which this can be placed in the drying room with the desired air temperature and humidity, and the blowing of air into the cavities in the boards can commence by activation of the drying unit's blower. The pelts are thus dried on the boards, which as described earlier are placed standing upright from the bed of the drying unit, and after the drying the boards are conveyed for removal of the boards from the unit.
The expansion pelt board typically appears in two configurations, a first configuration, which is intended for use in the mounting and drying of pelts from male animals, is elongated in fashion, and the extent of the board in relation to the longitudinal axis in the direction of the first transverse axis and the second transverse axis is more or less uniformly decreasing in the direction towards the front end, which is pointed but rounded-off, extending from an area of the expansion element near the foot end, where the extent of this around the first and the second transverse axis is more or less constant. Such a pelt board is thus referred to as a “male pelt board”.
Expansion pelt boards intended for use in the mounting and drying of pelts from female animals are of a second configuration, but have the same fashion as those described above for male animals except that they are shorter, in that the boards for pelts from female animals do not comprise the area near the foot end, where the extent of this around the first and the second transverse axes is more or less constant. Such a board is thus referred to as a “female pelt board”.
In the following, the “tanning” of a pelt is to be understood as a process consisting of the following: the mounting of a pelt on the board, chiefly with the leather side of the pelt facing towards the surface of the board, the stretching of the pelt on the board, and the fastening of the pelt in the stretched position on the board with the use of one or more types of holding means.
In the following, no distinction is made between the above-mentioned two types of pelt boards unless specific attention is drawn to the difference.
In the following, a “tanned” pelt shall be understood to be a pelt drawn on to the pelt board, stretched on the board and fastened in this position by one or more holding means.
The term “drying procedure” or drying of the pelt shall be understood to be a drying of the leather side of the pelt to a preferred degree whereby attack by mites is known from experience to be excluded. The drying procedure is typically carried out by a continuous changing of the air in the cavity in the board by the blowing-in of dry air. In the following, the “removal” of a pelt shall be understood to be the removing of a pelt which has been mounted, stretched and fastened in this position on the board during the drying procedure, typically after the pelt drying process has been concluded. The removal procedure also comprises the removal of any means which have been used for fastening the pelt in the stretched position on the pelt board.
The expansion pelt boards are developed to be able to be used a great number of times, and with the improved drying characteristics which are offered by these boards, the boards will be reused up to several times during the course of a pelt processing period.
When the dried pelt and the holding bag and pelt board inner bag have been removed, the pelt board is thus ready for reuse, but before a new pelt is mounted on the board for stretching (tanning), it will be necessary to provide the board with a new inner bag so that the possibility is hereby provided for the removal of fat from the leather side of the pelt during the drying.
Machines and devices have been developed for the mechanical mounting of pelt board inner bags, the mounting, stretching and fastening of pelts on expansion boards, and for the removal of the dried pelts from the expansion boards, which has resulted in a not inconsiderable saving of manual labor and herewith a better profitability in connection with the production of furs.
However, there remains a need for an automatic handling of the expansion boards in upright position between the drying aggregate and the means for the conveying of these respectively to the pelt remover, the arrangement for the mounting of board inner bags, the tanning machine, and back to the drying aggregate.